Animalis
by I-am-a-slash-addict
Summary: Ginny uses a spell to show Harry she is his mate, instead Harry, Remus & Sirius are taken to a world with three suns, a convicted murderer, other crash survivors & a planet full of hungry creatures that are eager for the lights to go out. Sequel posted.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Animalis - Chapter One

**Fandoms: **Pitch Black/Harry Potter

**Pairings: **Riddick/Harry, Remus/Sirius

**Rating: **Light R for this chapter, Eventual NC-17

**Wordcount: **2442

**Warnings: **Explicit M/M sex, D/s themes, mPreg, creature!fic, AU, character bashing, violence, language.

**Spoilers: **Entire Pitch Black movie. HP books 1-7 to be safe, but canon will be changed to reflect an AU plotline where the final battle happened in sixth year, not the seventh and most references will be fairly vague.

**Summary: **A desperate Ginny Weasley uses a spell to show Harry she is his mate, but instead Harry with Remus and Sirius are taken to a world with three suns, a convicted murderer and other crash survivors and a planet full of hungry creatures that are eagerly lying in wait for the lights to go out.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or Pitch Black, nor do I make any profits from these writings.

**What you need to know: **The nekomata gene is passed down through each generation of Potters, but there hasn't been one for over five centuries as a witch/wizard needs to have an extremely powerful magical core to becomes one. Nekomata's are divided by two sub-species, dominants and submissives. Dominants, generally males, are large predatory beings with heightened senses such as sight and smell, they are very territorial and protective of their mates and children. Submissives are smaller with more compact frames, they are a mix of both male and female, able to bear the next generation of nekomatas. Submissives also have heightened senses used to protect themselves and their children, but not nearing as substantial as the dominants. Mating usually occurs within months of reaching majority as the mating bond is essential to balancing both mates both physically and mentally. If a mating does not occur within a years time the nekomata's body slowly starts to shut down, preparing for death, as mating is the most basic function of the nekomata and without it they are incomplete.

**Author's Note: **So, recently I've been reading some really good Riddick/Harry Potter crossovers and my inner muse has been working overtime. I can't stop thinking about the deliciousness that is Riddick/Harry and so this story was born. I don't have a beta so any errors you see are mine and if anyone is willing to beta let me know. Also, I will try and update a new chapter every week, but the new college semester just started and I don't know how much writing time I will have. Okay, so I hope you all enjoy and remember review are like manna from heaven!

**

* * *

****Chapter One**

_A large calloused roughened hand slid slowly over his body, the fingers playing his senses like piano keys, hitting every right note they came across. In the dark around him he couldn't see who touched him, didn't know what the man above him looked like or who he was, but he wasn't afraid. Silvery eyes shined down on him in the dark, easing every fear or worry he might have had, comforting him and reassuring Harry that he could find safety in the arms that held him, in the large muscular body that pinned him to the bed. _

_His body moved of its own accord as his mate maneuvered into the cradle between his thighs, slipping his legs wordlessly around the waist above him and his split tail around each of his mate's strong thighs, crying out in pleasure as their bodies fit perfectly together. Every curve, every dip, every crevice, was countered by his mates, molding to him as if a lock to a key. Their bodies were made for each other, made to balance out the other, two halves making a whole. _

_Turning his head, Harry bared the vulnerable flesh of his throat, submissively asking for more. He cried out in pleasure as his mate nuzzled the silken flesh of his neck, Harry whimpering in need, breathing a soundless prayer that his mate would mark him, claim him… A low growling answered his whimper just before teeth grazed the soft flesh at the junction of his neck and shoulder. Then they sunk in, breaking thee flesh, marking him, claiming him as mate for all to see…_

Harry woke up with a cry of pleasure as his body reached climax. Waves of pleasure surged over every inch of his skin as the echoes of the dream filtered through his mind… hands gliding over his flesh, a strong muscular body pinning him to a bed, the low growling of his dominant mate, the pleasure as teeth piercing his flesh, marking him… He whimpered as yet again he woke from the dreams of his faceless mate to a pleasurable, but ultimately unsatisfying orgasm. Yeah, the pleasure was good, but he wanted it to be real.

It had been over a year since he turned seventeen and received his magical inheritance, and every night since he had dream of the faceless man who was his mate, waking up each morning a little bit more needy then the last. He, and pretty much everyone around him, had been surprised when he had woken the morning after his birthday to find some… changes to his body. Harry was a nekomata, a half-cat/half-wizard; a rarity in the magical community. The genetic inheritance had come from his father's side of the family, but no one in the family had become one for over five hundred years as a person needed to have a very powerful magical core to even activate the nekomata gene.

The morning after his seventeenth birthday Harry had sat nervously in a chair in Grimmauld Place as Remus and Sirius told him about what he was now. He had overnight developed black furred ears on top of his head, a long black furred split tail, slitted cat-eyes that seemed to be even more of a bright emerald than before and three inch long retractable nails that were as sharp as any blade.

Just those things alone had been unnerving, but the more they spoke, the more Harry cursed his inheritance. It seemed that just by his appearance it was clear that he was the submissive of the species as his body was still as slim and compact as ever. Oh sure, he'd gained some strength, speed and heightened senses, but he hadn't grown any taller than his previous 5'5" height. And even worse he was told that once he mated he would be capable of bearing children… that little bit of information had caused his mind to come to a halt in nervous wonder.

He could get pregnant… thinking it made him both horrified and elated. Since he was a little boy growing up with his horrid relatives he had always wanted a family, people to love and love him in return. Growing older he had entered the magical world and found friends and later on family with Remus and Sirius, but he had always felt a little bit incomplete, as if something else was needed to make his life complete… now he knew why he had felt that way. As a nekomata he was basically one half of a whole, the submissive to his mate's dominant side. Once they had mated Harry would go through periods of mating heat and the drive to have children would come every three months until he was pregnant. After having a child the mating heat would stop for another three years and then at which time it would again come every three months until he was pregnant once more. It would continue that way until he passed his "child bearing years" as Remus called it. Of course there were ways to prevent pregnancy even during mating heat, but the heat couldn't be stopped.

Now that had been nearly fourteen months ago and he still hadn't found his mate. With each passing day his body lost a little more strength, his magic a little less control. Nekomata, like so many other magical creatures, needed mates to balance their magical cores. His body was lead by basic procreation and survival instincts to find a mate and to secure the next generation. If he didn't find his mate soon he didn't have much hope of seeing his nineteenth birthday.

With a sigh Harry got out of bed, his split tail swinging lazily behind him as he stopped to bask in the sunlight streaming in through the window. Stretching little any good feline would in the sunlight he then went to go take a shower, cleaning off another night's worth of empty release.

* * *

Jogging down the stairs, Harry made his way to the basement kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Entering the kitchen he came to a silent stop and watched the two occupants of the room.

Sitting at the table leaning back in his chair was Remus with a happy smile on his face as he palmed the curved cheeks of his mate's arse who happened to be straddling his lap. Sirius had an identical look of happiness on his face as his fingers ran through Remus' hair. The two were deliriously happy with each other after years of being separated by so many things. Even after Sirius had escaped Azkaban, the two hadn't been able to get more than a few passing days in each other's company over the years. Sirius as a wanted criminal had been very recognizable by the fearful public and had been avidly pursued by the ministry aurors. Remus, though reluctantly, had been tasked by Dumbledore to infiltrate Fenir Greyback's pack and try to spy on Voldemort's movements during the war.

Just over a year ago the final battle had taken place at Hogwarts where at the end Harry had delivered the killing blow, freeing them all from a life lived in fear and oppression. It was during the battle that Remus had captured Wormtail and forced Minister Fudge to reluctantly exonerate Sirius.

It was a few days after that as Harry recovered in the infirmary that they had come to him and asked him to live with them at Grimmauld Place, be a family finally. Harry had launched himself at the two men in happiness, causing Madam Pomfrey to chastise him for getting out of bed while simultaneously telling him how happy she was for all three of them. From that day on Harry had happily watched them together with a warm fuzzy contentment, though since his magical inheritance that contentment had been slightly tinged with a wistful need to find a mate of his own.

"Morning." Harry said as he came fully into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table and filling his plate with food.

Sirius turned around with a smile, shamelessly resettling himself back in his mate's lap and leaning his back against Remus' chest with a sigh. "Morning pup… sleep alright?"

"Same as usual." Harry said as he took a bite of his fry-up.

Remus frowned and using his wand used several spells to check Harry's health levels. They weren't critical, but they were getting too close for comfort as his eighteenth birthday got farther away. "Harry, I wish you would let me use one of the spells I found to help locate your mate… you're rapidly getting to the point where even a mating might not save you."

Harry shook his head. "No Remus… Madam Pomfrey was pretty clear we need to find each other and bond naturally or there could be even more danger than just waiting. You're a dominant you know how it was for you, would you have wanted your search for Sirius to be interfered with?"

Half of the mating process was the search for the mate, scenting out the submissive and allowing them both to settle into the mating bond over the course of weeks if not months. It had been proven that when dominants are faced with a submissive mate basically dropped in front of them they jump into a highly feral state and are very territorial and violent towards anyone it perceives as a threat. Harry didn't want to see his friends and family hurt by his mate, so he really didn't want to consider that an option until he had no other choice.

Remus sighed knowing he was right, but Remus hated seeing his cub in so much turmoil. "Okay cub, but you get too much worse and we wont have any other choice, but to do it."

Harry nodded with a sad smile. "What time are we going over to the Burrow again… I thought I'd get in a bit of a workout before we go."

"Molly said to be over there at noon." Remus answered.

"Fancy a sparring partner, pup?" Sirius asked with a grin.

Since becoming a nekomata Harry had to sort of relearn to use his magic as his power and new abilities changed him. He now spent several hours a day learning to use his magic and control it as well as adapt to his more animalistic fighting style. His body's balance, strength, speed and senses had increased, giving him a decided edge on most wizarding opponents, but with other magical creatures such as Remus it brought him up to their level now. Sirius was one of the few witches or wizards able to make Harry work for the win, this was something that caused Ron to grumble good naturedly about as after every sparring he usually ended up being knocked on his arse.

Though in the last two months that same new advantage had decreased slightly as his magic started to lose control. He really just hoped he met his mate soon, the thought of dying and leaving all of his family and friends behind wasn't something he wanted to contemplate.

* * *

In her room on the third level of the Burrow, Ginny Weasley skimmed tome after tome with an obsessed pensively look on her face. She needed to find something and soon. Harry was getting farther and farther away from her with each day and soon he would be too weak to complete any bond with her. She just needed some way of showing him that they were meant for each other, that he was wrong and they really were mates.

Ginny cursed the day Harry had been taken away from her with one simple word… nekomata. Stupid genetics, stupid James Potter for taking his son away from her. Before then Harry been nearly ready to accept that they were meant to be, he had been spending more time with her, smiling and finding any reason to touch her. They had been so close and now it was all gone!

She had tried to make Harry see that they could still be together even after he became a nekomata, but he had said that even though he didn't know who his mate was, he did know his mate was male. Ginny had cried and screamed, trying to get him to see reason, but that hadn't worked. She had given him space and time, but that hadn't worked. She had even tried to make him jealous by seeing someone else and making sure he saw them together, but that hadn't worked either. Now she had no choice, she needed to find a spell or potion to make him see…

The word mate interrupted her train of thought and brought her back to the tome in front of her. "Yes!" Cried Ginny as she read about the spell. It was meant to help a person find their mate if they hadn't found them quickly enough. It was perfect! With a disturbingly crazed grin, she realized she had just enough time to learn the spell before Harry came over for lunch today.

* * *

From her hiding place in the bushes near the edge of the Burrow's wards, Ginny waited eagerly for Harry to appear. She knew that most likely Remus and Sirius would be with him, so she needed to do it quick and then quickly cast some memory charms to make sure no one found out what she had done. Even though it was for Harry's benefit, they wouldn't see it that way. Ginny was doing this for both of them, Harry wasn't going to last much longer without mating and Ginny couldn't allow the love of her life to leave her.

Three loud cracks filled the air and then the three men passed through the wards about twenty feet from Ginny's hiding spot. With a her eyes on Harry who was flanked on either side by his godfathers, taking a deep breath Ginny quietly spoke the spell and with a flick of her wrist a bright silver light shot out of her wand and barreled towards Harry.

The three men were in the middle of talking and nearly missed the spell coming towards Harry, but just as it reached him, Remus and Sirius cried out in alarm and dove for Harry trying to protect him from the spell. The silver light hit Harry square in the chest and just as he began to disappear Remus and Sirius connected with him and were slept away as well in a blast of silver light.

Ginny's eyes widened in horror as she realized something must have gone wrong. "NO!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **See Chapter One  
**Rating: **PG-13 for language and small scene dealing with death.  
**Word Count:** 1881  
**Author' s Note:** Okay, so here is the next chapter which practically wrote itself. This story is came so easily to me, i am so surprised. I am almost finished with the final chapter, so you lovely readers won't have to wait very long to read the last few chapters. Chapter three has already gone through edits, so i should be posting that one later on tonight or tomorrow, just depends on how quickly i finish going through it a final time. I want to thank **damnednforsaken**, for the wonderful beta work, she has had to put up with my bad grammar, punctuation, etc., so every one give a round of applause for her herculean task! So any errors you see… yeah those are mine, i changed a few lines here or there after she sent it back to me. Okay, on with the show!

"Blah" - Talking  
_'Blah' _- Thoughts

RHRHRHRHRH

"Ahhhh!" yelled Harry as he fell to the desert below him, Remus and Sirius grunting on either side of him as they too hit the sand on the desert world.

With a quick jump up, Harry had his wand out and stood in a battle crouch ready to defend his family and himself from any threat around. He scanned the endless sand dunes as far as the eye could see, frowning as he tried to work out what just happened.

"Remus, Sirius? You alright?" Harry asked after he made sure there were no threats around.

"Yeah, just had the wind knocked out of me," Remus answered as he stood to his feet offering a hand up to his mate and then checking Sirius over just to make sure he was fine.

"Moony, I'm fine." Sirius laughed as the concerned werewolf gave his full attention to checking his mate for any injuries.

Once Remus was done, he nuzzled Sirius' neck and took a quick lick of his pulse point, reassured at his mate's scent and taste again. Then he quickly checked Harry over ignoring the rolled eyes from the amused teenager. "Cub, are you hurt?"

"No, Remus. I'm fine… though I would like to know what just happened." Harry looked around the dry, hot desert around them, frowning as he saw three suns in the distant sky. "Where are we?"

"I've never seen that silver spell before… Obviously, it was some sort of transportation spell," Remus mused as he shielded his eyes looking up towards the three suns. "Wherever we are I don't think its anywhere near Earth, or at least the Earth we know."

"So how do we get home and find the fucker who did this to us?" Sirius groused as he looked at his mate and pup. "I'm not a fan of endless sandy beaches without the benefit of an ocean and a bottomless Mai Tai."

"Can we even get home? It's not like we have access to any potions or tomes with transportation spells in them to search through," Harry said quietly as he again searched the surrounding desert. "There isn't even any sign of people her-"

Just as he spoke, a loud boom echoed around them and all three men looked up to see a long hulking black ship enter the atmosphere, the nose high up in the air. Watching in horror, Harry couldn't turn away even knowing it was going to crash. The ship got its nose down a bit more before it hit the ground below skidding across the desert plains, breaking up and leaving a trail of debris behind.

"Holy shit!" Sirius exclaimed.

"I think we should probably head that way see if we can help the survivors. Besides, they appear to be the only people on this planet so far." Remus stated as Harry and Sirius nodded.

As they began making their way towards the crash, Harry wondered who or what exactly they would find when they got there.

RHRHRHRHRH

'_They say most of your brain shuts down in cryosleep. All but the primitive side... the animal side. No wonder I'm still awake. Transporting me with civilians… sounded like 40 plus. Heard an Arab voice, some hoodoo holy man. Probably on his way to New Mecca. Smelled a woman. Sweat, boots, tool belt, leather. Prospector type. Free settlers. And they only take the back roads. And here's my real problem: Mr. Johns, blue-eyed devil. Planning on taking me back to the slam... only this time he picked a ghost lane. A long time between stops. A long time for something to go wrong…'_

Riddick's eyes snapped open as a jolt slammed him against the door of the cryo chamber. Yelling and screaming echoed through the ship as people are thrown around, and he could hear pieces of the crew's words as they tried to save the bucket of bolts without any hope. This ship was going down; they just hadn't figured it out yet.

Through a blindfold on his face he could see Johns fall out of his cryo chamber, looking around confused. _'Stupid merc, don't you know a crashing ship when you see one…'_ Johns stumbled around until the ship began to break apart, part of the hull ripping off the rest of the ship like fly paper. Cryo chambers began sliding out of the ship into the bright desert sun, the poor bastards probably most likely still oblivious to the death that's comin' quick.

Johns grabbed onto a steady support beam as the ship bounced off the ground below it. Then, with a sudden stop, everything flew forward as the ship came to a stop. Riddick found himself launched out of the cryo chamber as it was thrown around. He caught himself in a low crouch, feet planted firmly on the deck, the cat-like reflexes of a Furyan keeping him from being impaled by the loose rebars inches in front of him. Cocking his head to the left he smelled Johns nearby, his scent covered by the debris he's buried in; perfect time to cut and run.

Slipping through the ship, Riddick searched for a way out, anything to get as much space between him and the merc as possible. He heard Johns give a groan as he started to wake… not enough time to get away. Coming to a stop, Riddick sniffed around and then grinned as he found a few thick pipes up high to use as cover. Crouching down low for a moment, his strong leg muscles pulling tight, he sprang up and wrapped his arms around a pipe, pulling himself up into the shadows.

Johns jumped down into the small compacted room, cautiously creeping into the room as he checks every hiding spot for Riddick. Waiting for the perfect moment, Riddick let Johns get directly under him before he quickly slipped the chain linking his feet around Johns' throat to choke him. Johns choked out a surprised cry and flailed about for a second or two before he pulled a collapsible baton from his pants, the click of the baton being release filtering through the room as Johns started hitting every part of Riddick he could. The pipe holding Riddick broke then, sending him falling to the floor below with a silent groan.

"Somebody's gonna get hurt one of these days, Riddick… and it ain't gonna be me." Johns said, his breath coming out in shallow pants. A smug grin was on his face as he pulled Riddick up and he lead Riddick until he found a spot to chain him.

RHRHRHRHRH

"How are we gonna explain who we are and how we got here?" Harry asked as they walked closer to the crashed ship.

They'd been walking along the path the ship carved into the sand for a few hours, debris scattered all around. They'd found a number of people in large metal coffin-like things that Harry thinks might be like those sleeper chambers he saw on a sci-fi movie a few years ago. Everyone they had found so far had been dead. The hardest part had been when they had come across the chamber of a little girl no more than five or six, her pail blonde hair blowing in the slight breeze. She had reminded him so much of Luna when he had found her after the end of the final battle. The thought of her death and the little girl's had Harry turning away and falling to his knees, his breakfast flowing up through his throat and splattering against the hot sand in front of him.

Harry had seen a fair bit of death in the last few years, and he had even gotten to the point were he could shove the horror away for the moment and deal with the current issues. Seeing children dead, though, was something he had never gotten used to and hoped he never did. The final battle had had quite a few casualties; thankfully, only a few of them had been students. However, those who did die were etched into Harry's memory as more people he had failed to save.

"Lets play it by ear," Sirius answered Harry, pulling him out of dark memories. "There have been at least twenty or thirty of those pod thingies with people who didn't survive. They may not know who was all on the ship."

Nodding, Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket and renewed the fading cooling charm on himself. There wasn't a lot to be cheerful about right now, but one of the few things was that they all had their wands with them. They didn't have much else besides those and the clothes on their backs, but at least there was a little glimmer of hope. Harry wondered what exactly they were going to find when they got to the ship; there had been so many deaths from the crash already… Would there be any survivors at all?

RHRHRHRHRH

The air in the broken ship was hot without a hint of a breeze. Riddick could smell the sweat and dirt and blood… death on everything, everyone. The few who lived were outside, their voices filtering through the cracks in the hull as they talked about the male prospector going out and burying the dead. Fear and worry clung to them, even a bit of guilt…?

Turning his head upward, Riddick could spot through the blindfold a break up high in the metal beam he's chained to. Stupid move on Johns' part, slipping up like that. Riddick would take it though; it would get him free and it'd make his day to stick it to Johns.

Standing up, Riddick lifted himself onto the balls of his feet and then twisted his arms up high from their resting spot behind him, grunting as each of his shoulders popped out of their joints and then back in as they went over his head. Slipping the chain through the break in the beam, Riddick fell to the ground before grabbing a sharp metal pike to break the handcuffs around his hands and feet. Once that was done, he quickly searched through the junk around him, smirking when he found a pair of old darkened goggles to shield his eyes.

Quietly moving through the ship he slipped out of the hull and took off running for hills in the distance. A half a mile or so out, he came to a halt as a scent hit him. It was sweet and spicy, crisp and clear; the scent was enthralling and completely took him over. Riddick felt the beast inside, the one that drove his survival, his senses, rise up and give a feral growl. Its screamed _MINE! _inside his mind.

"Interesting…" Riddick growled with a cock of his eyebrow as he sniffed the air, rooting out where the heavenly scent was coming from. Back towards the crash. He knew he should be heading farther away, Johns is probably already on his tail, but the scent was too irresistible to ignore.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **See Chapter One  
**Rating: **R for violence, language and sexual themes.  
**Beta: **damnednforsaken  
**Word Count:** 4000  
**Author's Note:** I've had a couple of people ask about the Riddick/Harry crossovers i've found, as well as any other Riddick crossovers. So, if you are looking for some stories to read, go to my author's page and click on the link provided. You'll be taken to my LJ where I have recently posted a Rec-list for Riddick crossovers. If you see that some of the stories you've read aren't on the list leave a comment so the other readers are able to share in the limited Riddick yummyness available. Okay, enjoy the chapter! Oh, and feedback makes me a **very** happy author!

RHRHRHRHRH

They had been walking for over five hours, and they could finally see the remains of the ship on the horizon. The trail of debris had gone on for miles; deep groves had been gouged in the planet's dirt where the large ship had come down. Harry was used to strenuous work outs that lasted for hours and taxed his body to it limits, but adding that kind of physical hike with the thin air of the planet was making the long journey just that much more difficult.

With each passing step that Harry took, he felt an odd anticipation building. He couldn't explain it, couldn't even give it a name; it was just this tingling bubble of excitement and energy that made him feel like something was waiting for him in the distance. There was a wishful hope in the back of his mind that said it was his mate, but Harry pushed that thought away. He couldn't get that lucky, could he?

Frowning, Harry stopped for a moment because he could see a white tarp flowing in the breeze in the distance, its edges propped up by four sticks about forty or fifty feet in front of them. Nearby was a large mound of dirt. Was somebody digging a hole? Maybe the survivors were burying the dead.

"Ahhhhhh!" screamed a male voice from below the tarp just as shots from a gun of some sort echoed in the air.

Harry broke into a run, Remus and Sirius a short was behind him. Reaching the hole, Harry flung the tarp away and jumped inside. A man's upper body was in a smaller hole to the side, his body writhing as he cried out in pain, his gun still firing at whatever was attacking him. Harry whipped out his wand and, wrapping an arm around the man, saw something moving in the shadows of the hole. "_Avada Kedavra!_" yelled Harry as he pulled the man from the hole, blood smearing across Harry's shirt and hands as he did so. A large gray claw was still imbedded in the man's shoulder, the other end severed by no doubt the other man's gunshots, and it was oozing blue-tinted blood. As the sunlight hit the claw, it began to hiss and bubble, the gray skin melting as if the light was burning hot on its skin.

Harry heard running feet on either side of the hole. Looking up he saw Remus and Sirius on one side and a strange black haired woman on the other, her face pulled tight in anger.

"Get the hell away from him!" she screamed as she jumped down into the hole, ready to protect the other man.

RHRHRHRHRH

Riddick wasn't big on self-analysis. He wanted something, and he went after it. He didn't want to do something, so he didn't do it. It was as simple as that. Now the scent, whatever was making it… Riddick definitely wanted whatever was creating that scent. It called to him, drew him in, and Riddick was more than willing to come a knockin'.

The scent smelled like a male, young, but not too young. Maybe eighteen, nineteen? The smell of wood, leather and feline clung to him, and a bit of canine, too. As he got closer, Riddick scented out two more males; they were older, and their scents had mixed together more than usual for lovers… The canine was coming from them; it seemed that wolf and dog was mixed in their blood. Their two scents were nearly identical, but not completely… an alpha and his mate.

Riddick felt the beast rise up at the scent of another alpha, but almost immediately it settled back down because the alpha's scent that clung to the younger male was that of a father and its cub… He's not a threat to Riddick or his mate.

He could smell worry, resolve and determination coming from all three and a little excitement from the younger male. Riddick grinned, his beast almost visible in his silver eyes, as anticipation coursed through Riddick's body. Both man and beast knew they were getting closer to that heavenly scent, and it was only a matter of minutes before Riddick could surround himself in it, glut himself on it until their scents mixed like the older males'.

"Ahhhhhh!" A scream echoed towards him with shots from a gun following just after. Before Riddick consciously thought about it, his body was moving at a breakneck speed, running towards the sounds, running towards his mate who might be in danger. He felt a feral growl rumble from his chest as he ran through a field of tall spires of sand, his body coiling tight, ready to spring towards the threat ahead. In the blink of an eye as he came to a hole in the ground, he saw the two older males and scented them as non-threats quickly. Next to them was a smaller male holding a bloody, unconscious man in his arms… The smaller male's scent awakens his beast, and it roared in protective rage as an unknown female jumped down into the hole, screaming with her arms raised threateningly as she moved towards the younger male. The younger male dropped the wounded man and raised a short wooden stick in his hand like a weapon, as if to defend himself with it.

Riddick roared in fury at someone threatening his mate. _MINE_! roared the beast inside him as Riddick jumped down into the hole. Picking up the woman like she weighed nothing, he flung her out of the hole where she landed ten feet away on the dirt below her with a loud thump.

Heart racing, blood pumping, Riddick flexed his muscles and took a protective stance as more threats to his mate ran up to the hole. A growl erupts from his chest as he saw that Johns and the other survivors were the ones to arrive.

RHRHRHRHRH

Just before the big, muscle bound man jumped into the hole, Harry smelt him. He whimpered in wonder and need at the timing of finding his mate as the man fell to a crouch in front of him and then stood up to fling the screaming woman out of the hole with a mighty roar. Harry turned his head when running feet echoed on the ground to his right and saw a group of people arrive. One of them was a tall blond-haired man with blue eyes who looked from the man in front of Harry to him with a frown and then aimed a large gun at them.

Behind him Harry heard Remus and Sirius yell "_Expelliarmus!_", making the man's gun fly out of his hands and fall to the ground twenty feet away.

RHRHRHRHRH

**AN: POV will include everyone from now on.**

"What the hell was that? And what the hell is going on?" Fry asked as she and most of the group took a step back in fear. The two unknown men had used _sticks_ to disarm Johns?

Shazza, from her place on the ground where Imam was helping her stand, pointed to Harry and shouted, "He attacked Zeke!"

"No I didn't. I arrived just as something was attacking him from within that hole," Harry answered patiently as he pointed to the smaller hole where blood was dripping around the outer edge. Leaning down towards Zeke, Harry started to point his wand at him just as Shazza jumped up.

"Leave him alone!" Shazza yelled as she ran towards them before coming to an abrupt halt at the menacing growl from Riddick.

"It's alright… I won't hurt him. This is a wand, and I can use it to heal him… Watch." Harry explained in a soothing voice as he said "_Episkey_" watching as the deep cuts on the wounded man closed. Once done he spoke "_Tergeo_" and the blood and dirt on the mans body was siphoned off and into Harry's wand. With a flick of his wand another spell, a transparent readout formed beside the unconscious man's body with his vital stats. "I closed all the wounds. That's all I can do without a few potions to replenish his blood. He's lost a lot of blood, so I can't say if he will survive, but closing the wounds gave him a fighting chance."

Shazza looked at Zeke's now closed wounds and cleaned body in wonder, tears falling from her eyes. "Thank you." she whispered quietly.

"Who the hell are you people?" Johns asked gruffly as he stared from Harry to Remus and Sirius and back again.

"Forgive us for not introducing ourselves. I am Remus Lupin and this is my mate, Sirius Black, and our godson, Harry Potter." Remus answered with a pleasant voice as he wondered what kind of situation they just got them selves into. "We were stranded on this planet just before your ship crashed."

"You are wizards are you not?" Imam asked with interest. "I have never been blessed with such a fortuitous meeting of one wizard, much less three. This is a good sign, a blessing from Allah."

His three children beside him had large smiles on their faces and light in their eyes at the hope of wizards to help them find a way off the planet.

"How did you get stranded here?" Fry questioned cautiously, not convinced that they were trustworthy yet, even if the younger one had healed Zeke.

"We were on our way to a friend's home for a meal and were ambushed by an unknown witch or wizard and sent here by a spell." Remus replied.

"Why would someone do that?" Jack asked, his voice a bit squeaky.

"Harry's seen as bit of a hero where we're from because he defeated an evil wizard… but that wizard's followers are still about, probably one of them," Sirius said with a growl and then added quietly, "Bloody Deatheaters!"

At Sirius' words, everyone looked at Harry who shifts uncomfortably under the appraising stares. His split tail twitches behind him, his black furred ears lying nearing flat against his messy black hair.

Jack got an interested look on his face and bits his lip. "So what are you?"

"Well, i'm a wizard, but I'm a Nekomata as well."

"Never heard of them." Johns said with a sneer.

"That's not surprising. Even where we are from Nekomatas are very rare, and its takes a lot of magical power for a wizard to become one." Harry answered reluctantly. He'd rather not talk about it, but the situation was still tense so he didn't want it to look like they are hiding something.

Shazza took a few steps closer to the hole now that the immediate danger had been resolved because she wanted to make sure her Zeke was really okay.

Riddick emitted a loud growl from his spot in front of Harry and shot a threatening look at Shazza, who stopped moving. His body was tight and coiled, unsettled by so many potential threats to his mate. Riddick would have liked nothing better than to pick up his mate and leave, take him to a secure place where he could be safe and where Riddick could crawl on top of him and claim him, lick him, touch him, bite him…

"What's with him? He wasn't so great before, but now he's just weird?" asked Paris as he looksed at Riddick, flinching as Riddick gave a gruff, almost non-threatening growl at him.

Harry had to suppress a snort; Riddick, even in a feral state, didn't see the man as a threat, merely an annoyance. Harry could scent fear and cowardice rolling off the man in waves. He'd have to watch Paris; cowardice like that not only endangered the coward, but those around him as well.

Sighing, Harry said, "As a Nekomata I have a mate, but until now I hadn't found him. Riddick is my mate, and, because we met suddenly and under stressful circumstances, he has gone into a feral state to protect me. I'd advise that you don't make any sudden moves or come close to me. He will react violently to anything he sees as a threat to me."

"Can I go to Zeke?" Shazza asked as she looked at Riddick fearfully, though she was still obviously determined.

Harry stepped up to Riddick's back and wrapped his arms around Riddick's waist, slowly pulling him back a few feet towards the other side of the hole. "Okay, just do it slowly and don't look at me or him, he'll see it as a challenge," he advised.

Shazza cautiously slid down into the hole and kissed Zeke's forehead.

Riddick growled as she slipped into the hole, not a threat of attack, but as a warning. From behind him, Harry let his hands run across Riddick's chest, murmuring soothingly and nuzzling Riddick's back. Harry wrapped the tips of his split tail around each of Riddick's upper legs, allowing the soft furred appendages to glide softly over the compacted muscles of his mate's thighs. Riddick didn't stop growling, but he let his body relax just a bit into Harry's touch.

"Imam, Johns, can you help me get him out of here?" Shazza asked as she looked up at the men.

"No. Stay back. Riddick might take it as a challenge… I'll move him," Harry said quickly as he pointed his wand at the unconscious man and intoned, "_Wingardium Leviosa_." Zeke's body rose up slowly from out of the hole and floated to a stop about five feet from it, where it landed softly without a sound.

Shazza got out of the hole with a thankful look at Harry as she went to her husband.

"So what attacked Zeke?" Fry asked.

"I'm not sure what they are, but they are vicious hungry creatures with large razor sharp claws and grey, rubbery skin. They stayed in the shadows as light seems to burn their skin," Harry answered and then used a silent levitation charm to bring the dead creature outside of the hole.

As the creature floated out of the hole, everyone gasped and backed away even further. The skin of the creature immediately began to blister and bubble when it was exposed to the sunlight; it looked as if it were basically slowly melting under the intense light of the three suns.

"Holy shit!" breathed Jack. "Is it dead?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, I killed it when it was attacking… Zeke. As a Nekomata, I have advanced senses. I can hear and smell a lot more of these creatures inside that hole, which seems to connect to a large network of underground tunnels."

Fry came a little closer to look at the creature, making sure not to appear threatening or challenging to Riddick in any way. It had a large sort of hammer -shaped head with sharp rows of teeth in its mouth. On both its arms and legs it had several sharp claws perfect for ripping into the flesh of its victims. At the end of it there was a long scythe-like tail with a sharp tip. They were clearly predatory creatures, and seeing Zeke's blood in its mouth and on its claws made it doubly so.

"Well even though sharing hour was very _fun_… I have a prisoner to chain up, wouldn't want him to kill anymore good people such as yourselves now would we…" Johns said as he made a move towards his gun.

Riddick growled in warning at him and took a few steps forward, but Harry pulled him back.

"It's alright, calm down…" Harry whispered to his mate, nuzzling his face against the strong muscles of Riddick's back as he tried to keep a hold of his own emotions… Riddick was a murderer? What did he do…? Harry knew not everything was as simple as black and white; he had killed people himself afterall.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked with a frown as he looked from Johns to Riddick. He was happy Harry had finally found his mate, but what kind of man was he exactly?

"That right there is Richard B. Riddick one of the most vicious killers around." Johns explained as he looked at Riddick with a sneer on his face. "He's got fifty-three confirmed kills, not including the ones that haven't been proved as his work. He's escaped from two prisons so far and its my job to bring him back."

"You can't lock him up, you seen what's on this planet!" Harry said loudly as his anger and anxiety bubbled to the surface at the thought that he had just found his mate and he might lose him so soon.

"Why don't you leave the big decisions to the adults, little boy!" Johns sneered condescendingly, a growl in his voice.

Riddick, his mind slowly coming out of the fog of a feral drive, growled again as a dark and dangerous look stole over his face as he took a step towards Johns. "I'd watch your fuckin' mouth when talking to my mate, Johns… I can make it fifty-four confirmed kills real quick."

In fear, Johns took a step back, but quickly masked the emotion behind a calm façade.

"It's alright… calm down Riddick." Harry said quietly as he used his touch and scent to ground his angered mate.

"Johns those three suns could set at any time. We've been on this planet for seven or eight hours, the suns have been up the whole time." Fry stated, trying to reason with him. She wasn't thrilled about letting Riddick run free, but she'd rather risk it in the face of being eaten by those things.

"I'm not letting a dangerous killer run around free to kill me and everyone else. And there are three suns, who knows if it ever goes dark here." Johns bit out, his face pulled tight in anger; he was losing control of the group and he didn't like it.

"It's better to be prepared than to let your ego make a choice that could end up getting you and others killed. Riddick is a feral being. His extra senses will be needed if those creatures come out once the suns set," Remus argued.

Looking towards Harry, Remus could see that Harry wouldn't allow Riddick to be locked up for any reason. Having just found their mate, both of them would react rather violently to being separated from each other. Remus wasn't too thrilled that, after over a year of waiting for Harry's mate, they found out that he had a questionable conscience, but Remus knew that no matter what Riddick was like, he would never be a danger to Harry or any children they had in the future. Once they were safe, Remus and this Riddick would be having a conversation on just who he was and why he was a convicted killer. Until then Remus would protect Harry's mate no matter what.

"I believe I am in agreement with Mr. Lupin…" Paris said quietly as he adjusted his glasses, trying and failing to not look at the grey creature that had nearly killed Zeke. "The more muscle to protect us the better."

"So am I… Zeke's not going to be able to protect himself like the rest of you," Shazza said as she softly ran her fingers through her husband's hair. He looked pale and his breath was shallow, but he was no longer bleeding. At least that was something.

"Yeah, Riddick's badass… he'll keep us safe," Jack said with a grin.

"Fine… if he kills you, then it's your own fuckin' fault!" Johns growled and walked off towards the ship.

"Um… we found an abandoned settlement a few miles away that has a skiff that might be space worthy, but its dead. We should gather up our things and go. We'll take a power cell to check the systems and see how many we're gonna need to power it," Fry explained as she looked around at everyone. "Sound good?"

The group nodded and headed back towards the ship to gather their things. Once at the ship, Harry looked towards his godfathers and said, "Remus, Sirius… uh, can I get a few minutes alone with Riddick?"

"Sure, cub… Come on, Sirius; let's see if anyone needs our help," Remus said with a nod, giving Riddick a last look before he threaded his finger through his mate's and walked towards where the rest of the group was on the other side of the ship.

Once they were alone, Harry nibbled on his bottom lip nervously as he looked up at his mate. It was the first time he had gotten a real look at his mate, and Harry couldn't believe the luck he had in getting a mate like Riddick. The man had won the genetic lottery; he was tall, at least 6'1" or 6'2, so tall that he towered over Harry's small body, with large thick muscled arms and legs, a trim waist… His head was shaved bald, emphasizing his strong angular facial features and the shining silver eyes behind the darkened goggles that he remembered so well from his dreams.

Harry leaned up on his tip-toes as he said, "Close your eyes for a minute…"

Riddick gave him a questioning look but closed them, and he felt the goggles being removed from around his head a second later before he heard his mate say, "_Scutum oculi_."

"Okay, you can open your eyes… Don't worry; the sunlight won't hurt them now," Harry said softly.

Opening his eyes, Riddick saw the difference right away as he looked around. He wasn't wearing the goggles anymore, but his vision wasn't impaired by the sunlight now. "What did you do?"

"It's a shielding spell for eyes in extremely bright places. I was in Egypt last year and the sun was really bright and bothering my eyes, so a friend of mine showed me the spell. It won't last forever, but I can keep on renewing it every twenty-four hours." Harry said with a small nervous smile. "Now in case something happens to the goggles, you won't be affected by the sunlight…"

Riddick gave his mate a smirk as he took the chance to look at him. He was small; the top of his head barely reached halfway up Riddick's chest. His body was slim, but Riddick could see toned muscles underneath the skin. His mate had wild, messy black hair with furred black cat ears on the top of his head, green slitted eyes that nearly sparkled in the sunlight, and pouty pink lips that made Riddick think about having them wrapped around his cock as those beautiful eyes looked up at him beneath the long black eyelashes.

A growl rumble low in his chest, and Riddick walked closer to Harry, following him as his mate walked backwards until Harry's back met the hull of the ship. Pressing up close to his mate, Riddick looked down at him, letting his eyes wander over the beauty of his mate's form. He smirked when Harry turned his head to the side and bared his vulnerable neck submissively for his dominant. Leaning down, Riddick nuzzled his neck, nipping and licking the smooth flesh in front of him as he breathed in the strong scent of his little mate.

Riddick growled as he pressed every inch of his length against his mate, his body molding to Harry's with his hard cock digging into the soft flesh of Harry's stomach. He grinned when Harry gasped at the contact. Bringing his hands around Harry's body, he palmed his mate's rounded ass and lifted him up, growling again in arousal as Harry automatically lifted his legs up to wrap around Riddick's waist.

"Mine," Riddick groaned as he licked the pulse point on Harry's neck, letting his teeth drag across the sensitive skin.

"Yes…" Harry shivered just before a soft, needy whine slipped from his lips as Riddick bit into him, the skin breaking as Riddick marked him, claiming him for life.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **See Chapter One.  
**Rating: **Hard R for frottage, language, violence and minor character deaths.  
**Beta: **damnednforsaken  
**Word Count:** 4920  
**Author's Note:** Sorry this took so long, my beta is completely swamped with school right now, a predicament that i find myself in as well, so the slow update couldn't be helped. The is one more chapter after this one, so we're almost at the end... but good news is that i have begun plotting out the sequel which i am anticipating being much longer than Animalis. *grins* Okay, enjoy the chapter and remember reviews are love people!

Riddick leaned against Harry, pressing their bodies together as his beast purred in pleasure at the feel of his mate against him. Harry clung to Riddick, his legs and arms wrapped around Riddick's larger body, holding tight unwilling to let go yet.

He nuzzled the soft flesh of Harry's throat and licked the newly bitten mark on his mate's neck. A smug, self-satisfied grin was on his face seeing his claiming mark on such a beautiful body, one that belonged to him in every way. Riddick wanted nothing more than to rip their clothes off their bodies and explore his tiny mate's body, to lick, kiss, and bite. He wanted to thrust inside him and never leave, wanted to cum inside the hot tight walls of Harry's body and mark it with his seed, and wanted to make sure that nobody ever doubted to whom this amazing being in his arms belonged.

In the distance, though, Riddick could hear the other survivors and knew he wouldn't have the time to do anything more than slip in and out, not exactly the way he wanted to treat his mate. Anyone could walk up to them at any second, though… Riddick hadn't been the type to let that thought bother him in the past. A quick tumble in a dark alley had been fine with him; he would found his pleasure and gave it to his partner and then he left. Harry was different than anyone Riddick had ever been with because he was his mate, and even if he never cared about letting his partner be seen out in the open before, something deep inside of him growled at the thought of anyone seeing what was his alone. The beast took an issue with his mate's body being on display. Riddick felt a low, territorial growl rumble from deep in his chest at the thought of anybody else seeing his mate without his clothes.

Harry laughed, his breath coming out in warm gusts as he spoke against Riddick's ear with a big smile on his face, "What are you thinking about? I can smell the 'HE'S MINE!' scent coming off of you in waves."

Riddick gave a gruff snort and returned to nuzzling Harry's neck. "Was thinking about ripping off all our clothes and slipping inside this hot little body, but…"

"Ahhh, you want me, but you don't want anyone else to see the goods… I get it. You alphas are so possessive…" Harry heaved a large, put upon sigh while pressing his face into Riddick's muscled shoulder with an infectiously happy grin on his face. "I guess I can wait."

An answering rumble from Riddick made Harry's smile get even bigger. For the last year and a half, Harry had lived with vague images or feelings about what his mate was like, wishing every day that that would be the day that they finally found each other. Now that he had found his mate, Harry was both elated and scared. It was such a gift to be in his mate's arms and to have his scent and his mark on his body, but he could see a barren planet all round them and smell the creatures underground just waiting for the dark to come so they could feast. It wasn't such a great place to finally meet his mate.

Now, Harry could feel his body slowly preparing itself for his mate, getting ready for the mating heat that would ensure a future generation. Harry could feel the tingle of magic at his mate's touch and knew that whatever Riddick's species had become, they had started out with magic in their blood. The magic had faded away some, but the rest had turned inward, changing and adapting to a new host. Harry could almost feel the crackle of magic on his fingers as they glided over Riddick's skin. The magic within Riddick's body was similar to Harry's, but different enough that it wasn't as easily accessible as Harry's was. It had evolved to be used in different ways and Harry wondered what those were. Whatever magic Riddick had in his body was powerful in its own right, however, and with Harry's own strong magical core, their children would more than likely be very powerful.

"You smell a little different than you did when I first found you," Riddick said absently as he pressed a kiss to the skin just under Harry's jaw line. "Sweeter…"

"Er… Well, now that I've met you, my body is getting ready to go into mating heat." Harry said as a rosy blush appeared on his cheeks. He had known about it since his seventeenth birthday, but the fact that his body would go into mating heat and bear children was still a slightly strange and embarrassing fact of his biology. "Nekomatas are divided into two sub-species, dominants and submissives… Um, as a submissive I am the one to um…" Harry's blush got a few shades darker before he continued, "to have our children. Now that I've met you, my dominant, my body knows it's nearly time to mate… and it's getting ready to conceive. It won't go into heat until I feel safe and secure, so we don't have to worry about it happening right away, but its getting ready for when I do feel safe…"

Riddick hadn't thought that he could find his mate any more appealing than he had, but seeing him stumble over his words and blush like a school boy… Damn, was he lucky. "Huh," was all he said.

"What? What's the 'huh' about? Aren't you surprised about me being able to have children?" Harry asked with a confused frown.

"Not really… males have been having kids for a long time. It's not as common as females getting knocked up, but it's not taboo. Especially with males that aren't 100% human," Riddick said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Huh," Harry said with a smile.

RHRHRHRHRHRHRH

"Thirsty?" Harry asked as they trudged along in the back of the group on their way to the settlement.

From beside him Riddick was sweating under the heat of the three suns in the sky. He nodded and then quirked an eyebrow when Harry transfigured a galleon from his pocket into a cup and said "_Aguamenti_." Water shot from his wand and began to fill the cup. "Here, if you want more just tell me… Jack, Ali, could you come here for a second."

He began pulling out a few more galleons and transfigured them as the group began to notice what he was doing. "Sorry, I didn't think about this earlier," he said apologetically.

Soon the whole group had had a cup of water in their hands after Remus and Sirius began doing some transfiguring and spells of their own. Jack and Ali had handed out the water cups as Harry helped Shazza pour a few drops of water into Zeke's mouth to try and keep him from getting dehydrated. Harry performed the health check spell again and quietly sighed. Zeke's body wasn't recovering; it was getting worse. He'd lost too much blood before Harry healed him, and Harry didn't think his body would hang on for very much longer. A couple of hours was the most they could hope for.

Once everyone had their fill of water, they were back to walking again.

"So Riddick, tell us a little about yourself," Remus said after a while. He caught his godson's mate's eye and made sure that the man knew what he was really asking about. Now was as good a time as any to start sizing up the man who was his godson's mate.

Beside Riddick Harry's steps faltered for a second at his godfather's words. He had known that Remus and Sirius wouldn't just accept his mate without making sure he was worthy of Harry and he knew that Riddick would measure up, but he still had a small worry that his godfathers wouldn't approve of his mate.

"Don't know much about where I come from, 'cept that I'm a Furyan and that some dictator decided to pretty much wipe out my species because of some personal vendetta, including my parents. I survived, lived on the streets." He shrugged as he looked out at the desert. Riddick wasn't the type to have long heart to heart conversations, but he knew that if he wanted to be accepted as Harry's mate by his family he needed to show that he wasn't a threat to them so he suffered through it.

"Joined the Company when I got older, became a soldier for hire. Moved up in the ranks until I was sent to enforce security on Sigma 3's moon, didn't like the way they treated people, pretty much slave labor." Riddick scowled a bit at the memory of the workers on that moon and how he had helped the Company restrict and enslave them for several years. Riddick had finally given in to the urging of his conscience and had tried to show the Company what was happening to their "employees", thinking naively that the mistreatment had been confined to the director of the facility and his staff. Only he'd found out how corrupt the company really was and got a life sentence for his troubles.

"Tried to stop it and got sent to the slam for my efforts, escaped and ran… the Company doesn't like loose ends, especially ones that know things they'd rather kept secret, so they put a big bounty on my head and mercs like Johns have been comin' for me ever since. The _kills _Johns talked about… those were the merc's that didn't know to leave well enough alone. Not saying I ain't killed others, but I ain't an all out psychopathic murderer like Johns claims either."

Riddick didn't claim to be a good man, but he wasn't a bad man. Every kill he took had been as either a soldier or in self defense. He'd never killed a woman or child and he never would. The Furyan in him wouldn't go after the ones weaker than him; it just wasn't in his DNA. He had a code, maybe it wasn't as finely tuned as others, but there were lines he wouldn't cross.

Remus sniffed the air around him and nodded silently. It was times like this when Remus found his lycanthropy curse useful. His finely honed senses could smell lies and emotions, he could hear erratic beats of a heart or the hitched breaths of a target. Given enough information he could tell if a person was lying, why and what they were feelings when they lied. Though Riddick hadn't told them everything, Remus knew the man had told them the truth and he felt a sense of guilt for the people on the moon and anger at the Company that had enslaved them.

Once they were in a better situation, he would get to know his godson's mate better, but for now the man had gained his trust with the short, but honest speech. Riddick had known exactly what questions Remus had wanted to ask and had supplied the answers to them. The man wasn't a murderer, at least not in Remus's eyes, and he had enough of a moral code to try and change a wrong he saw in his world. Knowing those things Remus felt assured enough to allow the man to be a part of Harry's life.

From beside his mate, Sirius saw Remus' body relax just a little bit, the wolf in him having accepted Riddick into the family. He looked over to his godson and saw a small smile on his young face and couldn't help his grin. He had truly begun to worry about Harry over the last few months as he got weaker and weaker because he still hadn't found his mate. Now he had found Riddick, and Sirius could already smell and see that Harry was doing better in just the short amount of time since they had met. Harry's magic was coming back slowly but surely and the slight grayish tinge that had started to show on Harry's skin was completely gone. Harry's body had accepted its mate and judging by the flesh bite mark on Harry's neck, so had Riddick.

Sirius felt his breath catch at the memory the news evoked; he still remembered vividly when Remus had marked him just a few weeks into their seventh year at Hogwarts. They had spent the entire night in the Room of Requirement learning about each other's bodies. When Remus had been inside of him, pounding away, causing screams of pleasure to erupt from Sirius' lips, Remus had bitten into his neck and had cum inside his body, marking and claiming him as his mate. The years after that hadn't been so great with the war and his being sent to Azkaban, but that night was still one of the happiest he had ever had.

Remus turned to Sirius when he smelt the waves of lust and happiness roll off his mate and quirked an eyebrow and grinned.

"Oh shove off. Like their mating hasn't brought back memories of our mating for you too," Sirius said sarcastically, though he was unable to hold back the smile on his face.

Harry laughed at his godfathers, then his head turned as a flash of light drew his eyes towards it. After three hours of walking, they had finally reached the settlement. In the distance he could see a small group of metal buildings. They looked old and unused with small mounds of sand gathered against some of the buildings and ripped and ragged material hung from clothes lines and over old equipment. It was obvious no one had used it in a long time.

When they finally reached the settlement, Harry pulled out the power cell he had shrunk and put in his pocket a few hours ago. Resizing it he felt himself flush when Riddick picked up the heavy power cell like it weighed nothing and took it into the skiff for Fry and Shazza to hookup.

Coming out of the skiff Riddick threaded the fingers of his right hand through one of Harry's and drew him off to go look around the settlement. The place smelled old and unused with the stench of death and decay permeated from every corner of the place, and Harry had to wonder what happened to the people. Why had they left so many things behind? In most of the buildings it looked as if the settlers had just stepped away for a moment and then never come back. It was disturbingly like an old ghost town.

"Do you actually think these people got rescued like Fry and the group seems to think?" Harry asked skeptically as Riddick pushed him up against the side of a building towards the edge of the settlement.

Pressing his body against the much smaller one in his arms, Riddick nuzzled his mates neck and said, "They're dead. They left their clothes on the hooks, photos on the walls. The skiff is prepped and ready; you don't prep an emergency skiff unless there's a fuckin' emergency."

"Yeah…" Harry agreed and then giggled as Riddick lifted him up in his arms. Harry raised his legs to wrap around his mate's waist and sighed in bliss as Riddick started trailing kisses up his neck towards his mouth. Linking his arms around Riddick's neck, Harry bared his neck for better access.

Riddick growled as he licked a drop of sweat that slowly ran down Harry neck. "Want you on a bed on your back, under me and wrapped around my cock… Want you screaming my name as I cum inside you…"

Harry keened at the words and felt a spark of disappointment that he wouldn't be able to give his mate what he wanted, what they both needed to complete their bond. He hated being on this barren planet, surrounded by death and ravenous creatures that were just waiting for the lights to go out.

"Oh god, Riddick," Harry whispered as he turned his head, pressing his mouth to Riddick's and licking his mate's lips. He mewled when Riddick pushed his tongue inside his mouth and twirled the appendage around Harry's. They slid erotically together, mimicking the act that they so desperately wanted but were unable to perform. Riddick began slowly thrusting up against Harry's body, their cocks rubbing together as the friction of their pants increased the pleasure.

"When we get off this rock, I'm gonna fuck you for days. Want my scent to cover every inch of your body, cum inside your ass and on your skin, don't want nobody to think you belong to anybody but me," Riddick growled as he began thrusting harder and faster, rocking their cocks against each other.

He felt Harry's split tail wrap around each of his thighs, the tails squeezing tightly with every thrust of their bodies. Riddick had never thought of tails as erotic, but judging by the spike in pleasure at their touch, he was soon going to have a tail fetish to add to the list.

"Yes," purred Harry as he ran one of his hands over Riddick's shaved head, smiling around Riddick mouth when Riddick growled in pleasure at the touch. "Please… Riddick… Oh, please…"

Harry didn't even know what he was begging for, only that he felt like he was on fire, pleasure coursing through every vein in his body. He was coming closer and closer to heaven and he wanted Riddick to take him there.

"I got you Kitten, let go…" Riddick breathed against his mate's lips as he thrust hard and fast, pressing Harry up against the wall of the building. As he felt his balls draw up tight, readying for release, Riddick turned and bit into Harry's neck again, reopening the claiming mark once again.

Harry gave a muffled scream into Riddick's shoulder as he felt himself tumble over into orgasm, flooding his pants with his cum. Riddick pulled back and watched his mate go over the edge, his head thrown back in ecstasy. He'd never seen anything more beautiful in life. Giving three more thrusts against the tiny body of his mate, Riddick roared in triumph as he shook with release.

As he leaned against his mate, his body flooded with pleasure with every breath he took, Riddick felt Harry laugh against him. Looking up from where he had his face pressed into his mate's neck, Riddick quirked and eyebrow in question.

"Merlin, that was amazing, so much better than I'd ever dreamed," Harry whispered as he leaned in and kissed Riddick's jaw, licking the slightly salty skin in bliss.

Riddick gave him a smug grin and then with one last kiss, leaned back and let Harry down to stand on his own. He saw Harry pull out his wand and say "_Scourgify_" as he pointed it at Riddick's crotch. Riddick shivered a bit as he felt the cooling cum in his pants disappear. "Handy."

Harry laughed and did the spell on himself and then put his wand away again.

As they walked back to the main part of the settlement, Harry could smell Jack and Ali following them, stalking them. Harry smiled and ignored it, letting them continue their game unaware that they had been spotted. As they reached a larger domed building Harry felt something crack slightly as he took a step. Backing up he kneeled down in the dirt and saw a pair of old glasses half buried in the dirt and not too much further was a cracked hand light. Harry frowned as he picked them up. They were just outside of the large buildings doors…

Riddick tried to open the doors, but they didn't open. From inside he could hear the light banging of chains keeping it closed. Looking in the window on the door, he saw a large room filled with equipment, but not much else. Lifting a tarp slightly to look above the doors, he saw the words "Coring Room."

"Come on. Let's go see if Fry's got the skiff working yet," Harry said as he dropped the items in his hand and stood up.

Riddick nodded, and as he pulled his hand away, the tarp went with it, exposing Jack who was hiding on the roof under it. She was wearing a pair of old goggles over her eyes and had shaved her head to look like Riddick. She gasped in surprise at being found and looked at Riddick and Harry, who was smiling slightly.

"Come on, Jack; you thirsty?" Harry asked as Jack crawled down off of the building. As she did, Harry looked at where she had been hiding and saw some kind of solar machine begin to whirl as it powered up. Looking around, he didn't see Ali with her. "Where's Ali?"

Jack shrugged her shoulders and pointed to a small hole in the side of the building where he must have crawled in. Harry stopped for a second and let his senses take over to try and find the younger boy. He heard Ali's heart beat from inside the coring room, and he smelt some of the creatures a second later.

"Shit!" Harry cried as he ran to the hole and quickly crawled inside with Riddick and Jack not far behind him.

Standing up, Harry looked around for the boy and saw him looking around. Harry let his sight sharpen in the dark and looked up to see a few dozen smaller creatures sleeping up high in the rafters. "Ali!" Harry whispered. The boy turned at Harry's voice with a frown. "Come here."

Ali made his way over to them just as the roof started to spilt open letting the bright sunlight into the dark room. The light quickly grew from just one small beam of light to a brightness that crept into every crevice of the room. As the light hit the creatures they shrieked in pain and began to fly up and circled around out of the light. Ali and Jack cried out as they noticed the creatures, attracting the creatures' attention. The flock swooped and swirled, diving sharply towards them as Riddick put himself in front of Harry and the kids, trying to protect them. Harry whipped out his wand and, pointing it over Riddick's shoulder towards the coming flock, cried, "_LUMOS MAXIMA!_" A bright burst of light erupted from his wand, lighting the area around them in an almost blinding light.

The flock turned away with shrieks of pain as drops of blue blood fell to the dirt below them. They circled back towards the center of the room where they dove down into a large enclosure that held a coring shaft at the center. They disappeared with shrieks echoing from within the shaft.

"_Reducto_!" Harry yelled as he pointed his wand at the entrance doors. The chains locking the doors burst into a thousand pieces and Harry said, "Jack, Ali go outside now."

The two nodded their heads quickly and ran outside into the sunlight. Riddick walked up to the deep shaft and looked down it to see a bunch of skeletons at the bottom. From the door, the rest of the group came running in, Johns with his weapon drawn.

"What happened?" asked Fry as she looked around.

"Ali crawled in here, and we went after him just as those rafter doors opened up. The light shined on a bunch of the creatures, though these were smaller, and they tried to attack before flying down into this," Harry explained as he pointed into the coring shaft.

One by one, everyone came to stand around it and look in. Johns activated a glow stick and threw it down into the hole. As it hit the bottom, it illuminated the skeletons of the dead settlers.

"Other buildings weren't secure so they ran in here; heaviest doors, thought they'd be safe inside, but they forgot to lock the cellar," Riddick said, his deep rumbling voice echoing down into the shaft.

Fry turned away at the sight of so many dead people, even some that were small enough that they had to have been children. There was a hitch in her breath as she walked away and started to look around.

Soon everyone else turned away from the sight of the skeletons except Suleiman who couldn't stop looking at the horrible sight. He leaned down farther in the hole feeling tears leek out of his eyes at the mounting terror of their situation. His hand slipped as he rested it in a blue-ish liquid on the side and he fell forwards with a cry. Shazza who had been just a few feet away, ran to the shaft and half flung herself down into it to catch him. She caught one of his hands and tried to pull him up, but she lost her footing as well and tipped over into the shaft with a scream. Hanging down the shaft still holding onto Suleiman, she gripped her free hand onto the ledge of the shaft just as Riddick appeared at the hole. He grabbed her arm and began to pull her up as loud grunts of effort slipped from his lips.

"Suleiman!" cried Imam as he ran towards the shaft and tried to pull the two up with Riddick.

Suleiman screamed from within the hole, his cries echoing around him as he tried to climb up Shazza, but only succeeded in causing her to loose her grip on the ledge and slip just a little bit farther down the hole, only Riddick and Imam keeping them from falling. Their screams echoed far down into the shaft, awakening a large creature who quickly made its way through the tunnels towards the bottom of the shaft, eager for a meal to quench its hunger.

"Shazza, hold on! We've got to pull them up now; something's coming!" Harry yelled as he, too, grabbed on to Shazza as they began lifting them up, but the weight of two people, one of whom was struggling frantically, wasn't easy to pull up quickly.

Just as they started getting Shazza's head above the edge, something powerful pulled them back down again. Suleiman's screams took on a gurgling sound as the creature attacked him, his hands trying without hope to climb up Shazza once more. With a final powerful pull from the creature, they lost their grip on Shazza, and Harry watched in horror as she fell down the long hole, her screams echoing with her. Harry turned away just as he saw the creature pierce her in the chest with its tail and her screams abruptly ceased.

"Oh god," whispered Harry brokenly, and then he pulled his wand from his pocket and pointed it far into the hole as he shouted, "_LUMOS MAXIMA! _You fuckers!" A powerful shaft of light burst out of his wand and down into the hole, funneling into the surrounding tunnels. Piercing shrieks echoed from below ground as the light hit the creatures.

Harry breathed raggedly as he ended the spell after a few minutes, hearing the creatures scurry farther into the network of tunnels away from the light, as Riddick held him in his arms. Turning, he pressed his face to Riddick's chest with a muffled sob as tears soaked into his mate's shirt. For a while, all that could be heard were Harry's muffled sobs and Imam's cries for his child. A depressingly heavy feeling settled over them all, emphasizing the bleakness of their situation.

Fry felt tears falls from her eyes and she tried to wipe them away with shaking hands. She heard Imam calling for his child in broken sobs, and she turned away and looked for anything to keep her mind off of the last look in Shazza's eyes before she was pulled down. Fry's eyes fell on a group of coring samples, and she walked to them and began looking. They were all dated in sequential order and the last was dated twenty-two years ago. "Twenty-two years ago," she whispered in a questioning voice.

From a spot a few feet away, Johns turned to her and said, "What? Does that means something?"

Fry frowned. "Maybe… The last one is dated twenty-two years ago this month." She bit her lip as she tried to figure out what the nagging voice in the back of her head said was wrong. Then a thought hit her and she turned around and ran out of the coring room with half the group following her after her sudden departure.

Entering a small building nearby, Fry walked to a scaled model of the local solar system and set it back to zero years. Then she started rotating the model, the three suns and the three planets revolved around each other and each planet had constant sunlight from the suns until the twenty second year. Then the solar system was situated so perfectly that the smallest planet, the one they were on, was put into total darkness by the other two as they blocked the sunlight on either side of the planet.

"An eclipse…" Fry breathed as she continued to rotate the model for close to another year, but the alignment stayed in the same position… it was going to last for a long time.

"You're not afraid of the dark are you?" Riddick rumbled with a half grin as he tucked Harry into his side.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **See Chapter One.  
**Rating: **NC-17 for language, violence and full-on smut(finally!)  
**Author's Note:** Okay, so i am completely sorry this took so love to post. Its been done, but unbeta'd since the end of September. My beta, damnednforsaken, had some unavoidable RL issues that kept it from being posted for a while. We finally had to decide to have someone else beta the last chapter, seeing as see's bogged down with finals. So now, with the very timely phoenixfeather as beta, i present the last chapter of Animalis. Read, then review and make an author happy!

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A half hour after the group had given a quick funeral for Shazza and Suleiman, Harry could hear everyone arguing loudly as he walked over to check on Zeke. Fear was coming off of everyone in waves and it had him slightly on edge. Paris was on the verge of a full blown panic attack as he sat down on the ground, staring at the dirt in front of him. Harry could hear the man's heart beating a mile a minute and his breath coming out in shallow pants. He didn't look too good.

Jack, Ali and Hassan sat huddled together nearby looking at the arguing adults, all of them hoping for a solution; waiting for someone, anyone, to come up with a brilliant plan to save them all.

The biggest problem wasn't powering the skiff — they could get to and from the crashed ship within a few hours, if not a few minutes if Harry or his godfathers apparated — no, the biggest problem was how the tiny, little, old skiff would fit them all in it for a possible long journey. They had found a couple of crates of meal packets, so food wasn't a problem, neither was water as Harry and his godfathers would use their wands for that.

Reaching Zeke, Harry found only silence where shallow breaths and a faint heartbeat should have been.

'_Well, one less person to try and fit in the skiff_' Harry thought sadly as he covered Zeke's body with a tarp from nearby. Standing up, Harry walked back to the group, their heated exchange only adding to his stress.

"Zeke's dead." Harry stated quietly, his voice barely making it over the rest, but they all stopped talking and looked at him. "His heart stopped beating; he lost too much blood when he got hurt."

"Sorry, pup." Sirius said as he wrapped an arm around his godson. "Well, like Remus and I were saying, we can use a couple of spells to enlarge the inside of the skiff. We can even create a few rooms to give a little privacy when someone needs it, though it wouldn't be spacious by any means. We've got food and water taken care of; it's just the air that's the problem…"

Fry shook her head. "Even if we could make it bigger, there is still the problem on how much weight it can hold. If there is too much, we either won't get off the ground or will crash into it once we get a little airborne."

"We can do some featherweight charms to reduce the weight of everyone but you while we are in the atmosphere and once we are in space, we can end the charms." Remus stated.

Fry looked shocked and then smiled. "Well, then the only other issue is air in the skiff. It has an air recycler with CO2 scrubbers and with the added space inside the skiff; we'll be able to have a larger amount of air in it to start. So the air quality won't be great, but it will work in a pinch." Fry said with a nod of her head. "So it's just the power cells to give the skiff juice. There's an old sandcat by the coring room, we might be able to get it working to haul the cells. They are really heavy, so we're going to need it." Fry said as she looked at the sandcat. "Probably take a little while, but-"

"Actually, I was thinking I could apparate to the ship and get the cells. I could shrink them so the weight isn't an issue. The only problem is, I don't know where they are or what they look like." Remus interrupted her.

"What does 'apparate' mean?" Imam asked with a confused look on his face.

"It's where a wizard or witch can pop from one place to another in the blink of an eye. It's a sort of teleportation." Remus explained.

Imam nodded, his smile lighting his eyes as hope shined through. "Yes I have heard of that, but not by that name. It is a good plan."

"I'll go with Remus. I know where the cells are." Riddick put in. He wasn't going to let his mate's godfather go out there alone when the eclipse was coming soon.

"You are not going anywhere without me, Riddick. Might do something to them just to spite us all." Johns said with a sneer on his face.

"Wouldn't endanger my mate and his family just to fuck with you, Johns." Riddick growled as he took a step towards the merc. Harry stopped him with a hand on his arm and a shake of his head.

"Riddick, just ignore him." Harry said quietly as he smiled up at his mate. "I know you wouldn't do that."

Riddick nodded his head and stepped back.

"Okay, so the three of us will go and get the cells. It shouldn't take more than ten or twenty minutes." Remus stated as he walked to Sirius and pulled him aside, seeing the angry look on his mate's face. "I know you don't like it, but it's the best option. I'll go. You stay with Harry and make sure the group stays safe. The eclipse could start at any time now…"

As if the planets had heard him and decided to prove him right, a large ringed planet crested over the horizon in the south, quickly moving into alignment. The shadow on the planet spread over the horizon quickly, the area to the south where the ship was had already begun to darken with shadows.

Sirius sighed and gave a reluctant nod as he pulled Remus down for a quick, soul searching kiss.

At the appearance of the other planet, the others gasped in dismay at the coming darkness. Harry turned to his mate. "You be careful and you come back to me."

Riddick gave him a nod and leaned down to nuzzle his face into Harry's neck as he wrapped his arms around him, taking a large breath and inhaling his mate's scent. "You too."

Harry pulled back and kissed Riddick quickly.

"Have you got a weapon or do you need me to transfigure something?" Harry asked as he pulled back.

"Found a pair of shivs in one of the buildings while you were with Imam and the kids. I'm good." Riddick answered with a smirk. "Feels good to have them in my hands again."

Remus walked up to them. "You help Sirius make sure everyone stays with the skiff until we get back. Be safe, cub."

Harry nodded as he wrapped his arms around his godfather for a quick hug then stepped back as Johns and Riddick took their places on either side of Remus. The werewolf placed a hand on each of their forearms and then they were gone with a loud crack.

"Okay, Harry, Fry, Imam go find some things to help light up the area around the skiff. They may not get back before the light goes out. Any kind of flammable liquids or flammable materials will do and some durable items to put them in on the ground. I'll do the spells to enlarge the inside of the skiff. Don't take more than about ten or fifteen minutes, the sunset is coming fast and I don't want anyone caught in the dark." Sirius said as he turned to everyone else. "Stay close to the skiff, it will only take a minute or two to do the spells. We can transfigure cots and things like that after we get off the planet."

The children and Paris all began making their way to the skiff, finding places close by to wait. Sirius looked back towards the horizon and prayed to any higher power listening that the light would stay for just a little while longer.

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The three men arrived at the crash site with a loud crack and began running to the ship when they realized it was already partially in the shadows. Not much sunlight was left and it would take them at least a few minutes to get the cells.

Working quickly, the first two cells came out easily and were quickly shrunk. The third and fourth were in an area that was covered in debris, making it harder to get to them. It took them over twenty minutes just to dig them out and shrink them. Just as they did so, the light finally went out and they were surrounded by darkness. Remus quickly lit his wand, but one of the creatures had found its way into the ship and dove for him, slicing a fairly deep cut into his shoulder and sending him flying towards the hull of the ship, knocking his head hard against it. Remus crumpled to the floor, unconscious, as Johns shot at the creature, sending it crawling back towards the hole it crawled in through. Riddick and Johns quickly tried to find lights, grabbing some of the fluorescent tubing throughout the ship.

Johns turned on the light on his gun and turned to Riddick. "You stay here; I'll go see if I can find anymore lights."

Riddick began wrapping Remus' bleeding shoulder with the some material ripped from their clothes. The cut wasn't too bad. It didn't look like the claw had sliced through any arteries and Remus' heart was beating strongly; he was just unconscious.

"Found a welding torch and a few flash lights, not much worth keeping." Johns said as he came back inside the room. "They won't last very long."

"Harry or Sirius will apparate here if we don't come back — only needs to last for a while." Riddick said quietly as he finished wrapping the wound.

"They better come soon…" Johns growled. They could hear clicking and shrieking from outside as sounds of metal buckling from other compartments filled the air.

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"It's taking them too long, pup. Something's happened." Sirius said. Harry could hear the tremor in his godfather's voice. It had been over an hour already and they hadn't seen any sign of the three men yet.

Harry was scared, wondering if they were alright... if they were dead.

Turning to his godfather, Harry told him "I'll go and see if I can find them… you stay here." They both knew one of them needed to stay with the skiff incase something happened, so Harry apparated away before Sirius could.

"Pup… I'm going to kill you when you get back." Sirius growled worriedly into the night.

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Harry arrived at the ship with his wand lit at full brightness. "Point me, Riddick." Harry breathed as his wand circled around the palm of his hand for a few seconds and then stopped, pointing to his left. Harry took off running towards one of the back compartments his wand had pointed to calling out "Riddick! Remus!"

A door to the compartment opened and Riddick stuck his head out. "Kitten, get in here; Remus was attacked by one of those fuckers."

Harry ran inside and fell to his knees beside Remus' still form and seeing the cut, quickly whispered "_Episkey._"

The cut began to stitch its self together, the jagged ends of the wound binding together and stopping the bleeding. Harry breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he did a quick spell to suction off the drying blood, taking away at least one reason the creatures around them were shrieking and clawing at the walls, trying to get to the delicious feast just waiting on the other side.

"Hit his head too." Riddick said from behind Harry, startling him. Harry turned his head and gave his mate a quick smile before he did a health check spell to see how bad the injury was. There wasn't any swelling or internal bleeding, but Harry wasn't a healer or a nurse, so he could only hope Remus woke up soon.

Standing up, Harry cast a featherweight charm on his godfather and then picked him up. "Johns, I'll take Riddick and Remus back first and then I'll come back for you. I can't take more than two people at once."

"The hell you will, you can't just leave me here!" Johns yelled as he took a step forward.

Riddick growled at the merc and stepped in front of Harry to protect him. "Back the fuck off Johns. Now!"

Johns took a few steps back and leaned against a large crate towards the back of the room, a loud huff of anger escaping his lips. He didn't like it, but the stupid cat-boy was his only way to the skiff and off the fucking planet. He'd play nice at the moment, but as soon as they got back to civilization all bets were off. Riddick was going to be his biggest payday yet and he wasn't willing to let some freak steal it from under his nose.

Riddick eyed the merc with undisguised disgust and turned to his mate. The merc, though for his own selfish reasons, had proved a point to Riddick. There was no way in hell he was letting his mate come back alone to get the merc. He didn't trust Johns. At least with Harry taking the merc first, Sirius would be there to make sure he didn't do anything before Riddick came back with Harry. Johns was probably already making plans to use Harry against Riddick anyways. "Take him and Remus first and then come back for me."

Harry opened his mouth to flat out refuse his dominant, but before even a single word could be spoken, a choked cry echoed through the narrow room. Riddick and Harry both snapped their heads towards the noise just in time to see Johns being pulled up, kicking and screaming, over the crate's top by a large creature that had its big sharp toothed mouth open in an almost grin. A wide river of blood cascaded over the edge of the crate and splattered to the floor below as Johns' cries became a low gurgle and then stopped altogether.

"Guess that solves the problem." Riddick turned to his mate and held out his hand to him. Harry frowned at the splatter of the merc's blood and then turned back towards his mate to walk the last few steps to him and finally leave this place. As he turned, he felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder. Looking down he saw a sharp claw piercing through his flesh. Dropping Remus, he fell to his knees.

Riddick roared in fury, smelling his mate's blood before he even saw the claw stab him. Running the few feet to Harry and the creature, he pulled Harry out of the grasp of the creature just as it started to pull him back into the darkness. Pushing Harry behind him, trying not to think about the thump of Harry falling to the ground and the absence of movement afterward, he pulled out his shivs and began cutting and slicing the creature who hurt his mate. He ducked and dodged its sharp claws and teeth, rolling to the left as its tail flung out at him. He barely felt the cuts that the creature got lucky with. His only thought was for the safety of his mate.

With a vicious war cry, he brought his shivs down and across to meet in the center of the creature's neck, slicing the thick skin and bone. He sneered in disgust as the creature's head slid with a wet plop from its body. "Did not know who you were fuckin' with!"

Turning, he ran to Harry and saw him with a dazed expression on his face. "Harry… You alright, Kitten?"

Harry took a deep breath and then nodded. "Yeah, I don't think it's that bad. I'll have Sirius look at it when we get back. Grab Remus and let's go."

Riddick picked up the older werewolf and watched his mate stand slowly. Holding the older man with one arm, he held the other out to his mate. Harry placed his smaller hand into Riddick's larger callus-roughened one and they disappeared with a loud crack.

Appearing just feet away from the skiff, Harry saw Sirius looking pale, with a terrified look on his face at the sight of an unconscious and bloody Remus. "It's alright, Siri, he just got cut a little and knocked himself out. I think he'll be alright. I already healed him."

"What about you? Is that a cut on your shoulder, pup?" Sirius asked, but was already pointing his wand at the wound and healing it.

Once done, they all walked up the ramp into a much larger skiff than before. Quickly settling, Fry then powered up the skiff and closed the hatch; everyone giving a sigh of relief as it closed. She turned on the outside lights and shrieks of pain echoed around the ship as some creatures were caught in the sudden light. Soon they were rising up into the night sky, off that horrible planet that had taken so many lives and away from the creatures that would have liked nothing more than to revel in ripping the flesh from their bones.

As the view out of the skiff's windshield turned from clouded night into the quiet of the black of space, they all breathed just a little easier. They were finally safe.

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It took ten days for them to cross the path of another ship in the expanse of space and another week to make it to Helion Prime, the Hunter-Grazner's original destination. The group of ten people made the trek without much trouble. Space in the skiff had been increased to the point that they had been able to create three small rooms in the skiff, including the cockpit. Still not a lot of privacy for ten people on a nearly two week journey, but they had survived.

During the journey, Harry had talked to his godfathers about what would happen when they got in touch with civilization again. He had worried about what would happen when other people learned that Riddick had survived and wanted to put Riddick in custody again or take him to prison. He hoped that they would find a way to get the four of them to Earth, but that would take time, if they ever found a way at all. Sirius had quickly come up with an idea. After years of being wrongly imprisoned in Azkaban, the older wizard felt a sort of kinship with the Furyan and a tentative bond had formed between them.

They had debated the particulars of the plan, but in the end decided it was better to use the plan in its entirety. Sirius, before being sent to Azkaban, had spent years working as an Auror for the Ministry and was very familiar with memory charms. After using a glamour charm on Riddick to mask his features, Sirius had quickly and methodically altered the other survivors' memories to think that Riddick had died in the crash and a different man had survived in his place. It had worked perfectly, although Jack had been sad that her hero hadn't survived. Harry hadn't liked hurting Jack, even a little bit, by letting her think Riddick was dead, but he hadn't wanted to take the risk that one of them would say something and Riddick would be taken away from him.

When their rescue ship had touched down in the city of New Mecca on Helion Prime everyone had been very thankful to see a planet with an abundance of sunlight and no creatures in sight. Harry had been happy to see that Imam had decided to adopt Jack after she had formed a friendship with his children — Ali especially. Imam was a kind and gentle person and would give the girl a home that Harry suspected she hadn't had for a long time.

Soon they had all bid their goodbyes to everyone else and drifted away. Harry and Riddick, Remus and Sirius had found their way to a smaller suburb of the large city and had found a place to stay, at least for a while. Remus had, during the journey, found out from Imam that there were a few witches and wizards living on Helion Prime, though the holy man had never met them, giving Remus hope of finding a spell or potion to take the four of them home.

One day after they landed on Helion Prime, Harry felt himself go into the first stage of mating heat. It was basically a warning system; telling him that within a few hours he and Riddick would be consumed in the drive to mate and nothing else. All three men near him had noticed the change in his smell. Remus and Sirius had, with a pleading look from their godson, quickly decided to give the newly mated couple some privacy and had gone on a short trip to a nearby city for a few days to try and find a wizard who might be able to help them.

Harry had been so grateful that they had taken the hint. Spending close to two weeks in the skiff with nine other people hadn't given them the privacy or the time to go any further than a few hasty hand jobs or frottage up against a wall. The time on their rescue ship hadn't offered any more privacy either. So Harry had been practically vibrating with need since they had landed in New Mecca and hadn't been surprised when his body went into heat. When he had finally felt safe and secure enough in his surroundings, his Nekomata biology had taken over and put the focus completely on the drive to mate and conceive.

Five minutes after they were gone, Riddick had Harry naked and on his back in their bed trying to get his breath back after having Riddick kiss him like it was their last kiss. Pulling back, Riddick felt his nostrils flare wide as he took in Harry's scent and that his body was ready to mate. Riddick practically drooled as the sweet smell of his mate's fertility overtook him. It was something he had never smelt before. It brought the Furyan in him to life, taking over and leaving him with the need to do nothing but thrust himself into his mate's willing body over and over again.

"I thought they'd never leave…" Harry moaned as Riddick nestled his way into the space between Harry's thighs and laid down over him, the much larger man's weight pressing him into the mattress below.

"Want you, Kitten," Riddick said as he rocked his body slowly against his mate's, the growl of his voice vibrating out of his chest. "You're gonna look so pretty wrapped around my cock."

Harry's breath hitched at the words and he keened in pleasure as Riddick leaned down and sucked the claiming bite that had slowly begun to heal on his neck. Riddick's teeth slid down the slightly raised flesh, causing Harry to squirm and buck up against his mate, but Riddick used the extra sixty plus pounds of pure muscle that he had on Harry and pushed him back down into the mattress with a leering grin. Harry's eyes darkened with arousal at being held down by his mate, his breathy pants increasing as excitement stole over him.

"Like that, don't you Kitten." Riddick practically purred as he stared down into Harry's emerald eyes.

Harry nodded. "I like that you're so big; so much stronger and taller than me. I guess it's the submissive side of my Nekomata, but when you use your strength against me, when you lift me up in your arms and hold me… I just… I get so turned on and flushed. I feel safe, protected, and I want to do is get down on my knees and take you into my mouth, want you to flip me onto my hands and knees and take me… Merlin, I want it so much I can't even think straight."

Looking down at his kitten, Riddick felt his chest constrict and puff out at the same time. He felt this overwhelming desire to give Harry everything he ever wanted; something that, until recently, he never believed he would feel for another person. The Furyan wanted to roar with triumph, wanted to shout that the gorgeous kitten in his arms, the little Nekomata that was a far better man than he could ever be, was his and nobody else's. He felt proud that Harry had accepted him as his mate, proud that fate or destiny had chosen him to be Harry's dominant… and that terrified him. The Riddick. The escaped convict and murderer that people both feared and despised. "Big Evil" Johns had called him… he was terrified of a small wizard cat-boy who barely came up the middle of his chest. Terrified of being connected to another person and of not being enough to protect his mate and the life they would create.

He had prided himself on the rough and tough exterior he had created over the years. The impenetrable layer he had placed over his emotions long ago. In the entire twenty-six years of his life he had nobody but himself to depend on, nobody but himself to protect. Now, here he was looking down at his mate; getting ready to slip into his mate's body for the first time and, if what Harry and Remus had been saying about Harry's high fertility rate was true, soon he was going to have a second being that needed his strength and protection as well.

Riddick hadn't given a second thought to kids before Harry. He didn't hate them; he'd thought a few were even cute, in a fleeting thought kind of way, but that was it. The life he led… the person he was… having a kid seemed like something he'd never have. It was for the normals; the people who had nine-to-five jobs and a house with a picket fence and a dog… not for the universe's most feared murderer. The Company had made sure to spread the details of his supposed "vicious and sociopathic killings" far and wide, making sure he never had the chance to find a safe harbor in any corner of the universe. Riddick had figured if they were gonna make him out to be evil incarnate, he'd play it up and use it to his advantage. It had worked in making people quake in their boots in fear at just the mention of him and had kept everyone but the fearless or stupid off his tail.

Now here he was looking down at his mate —at perfection personified — about to make a baby with him. Riddick laughed at the how much his luck had changed in just a few weeks time — at how equally horny and terrified he was. Riddick gave a low chuckle and leaned down to kiss Harry's wet and kiss swollen lips.

"What are you laughing at, hmmm?" Harry asked and then gasped as Riddick sat back on his heels and pulled Harry into his lap to straddle his strong, muscled thighs. Their cocks rubbed together slickly, pre-come allowing the hard lengths to slide back and forth as Harry thrust down against his mate.

"Just thinkin' 'bout how lucky I am" Riddick groaned as he slid his hands down from around Harry's waist to palm his pert ass with his large hands, squeezing the fleshy cheeks and growling. "Never thought I'd find a mate, let alone one like you… one that's way too good for me."

Harry lifted his head from where it was nestled into Riddick's shoulder and looked up into the glowing silver eyes of his mate and shook his head vehemently. "Riddick, don't say that. You're a good man. You saw people being taken advantage of, being used and abused, and you tried to stop it. That's more than a lot of 'good' people would have done. I know what this universe thinks of you and it's not true, you're not a soulless killer, evil or anything like that. You're not that man, no matter what anyone says."

"I ain't a good man, Kitten. I've killed more people than I can remember. I was a soldier for years, did the dirty work for The Company and killed all those mercs who came after me-" Riddick tried to argued, but was interrupted by his mate.

"That doesn't make you a bad man. Look at me, do you think I am evil or bad; a killer?"

"Course not, Kitten. You take care of people and have a good heart… like I said, too good for me."

Harry nibbled on his lip and turned away for a moment while taking a few deep breaths, readying himself for the conversation that he hadn't had with Riddick yet. In the three weeks that they were in space he and his mate had learned a lot about each other since being mates didn't automatically mean you knew the person you were fated to be with. Harry had already talked about his parents and his childhood with the Dursleys, about going to Hogwarts and the friends and family he had found along the way. But he had shied away from anything more than a passing description of the war. There were few people Harry talked to about that time in his life, choosing rather to leave it in the past where it belonged. But Riddick needed to know about it; about how it had changed him and how they were more alike than Riddick thought.

Turning back to Riddick, Harry spoke. "Do you know, after the war a lot of our community said I was a killer, murderer, unstable… the next dark lord. They spent years either saying I was an attention seeker and unstable or a layabout who was taking his time doing his duty to the wizarding world. When I finally did my _duty_ and ended the war, they said I was dangerous and a vicious killer and should be locked away to protect the rest of the people."

Cupping his hands against Riddick's face, Harry gave a sad smile. "I've taken thirty-two lives since I was fifteen years old, not including the people I failed to save over the years. My first was a Deatheater by the name of Bellatrix Lestrange… we were in the middle of a battle and she had been dueling with Sirius and got a lucky shot, sending him through a doorway called the Veil. I thought she had killed him as nobody had ever come back from the other side. I spent what felt like hours dueling with her, but it had to have only been a few minutes. I sent off killing curse after killing curse, but she deflected them, all the while taunting me about Sirius' death and my parents deaths. Then my rage got so overwhelming that I put all my magical strength into one last spell and it hit. She dropped dead instantly when the killing curse hit her. I felt both happy that Sirius' killer was dead and horrified that I had taken a life. I know she deserved to die; she had taken countless lives and would have happily taken mine and a lot more, but until that moment, I hadn't ever really thought about seriously taking another life. I was fighting a war, but I was still naïve enough to think that I could do it without killing a single soul."

Riddick looked into the haunted eyes of his mate and felt helpless for the first time in a very long time. Tears fell from Harry's emerald eyes as a far away look took over his face. Riddick had known, by the little that his mate had said about the war, that it hadn't been a happy time during his life. He'd figured that he had had to do some things that most people wouldn't understand and he had known that Harry had trouble dealing with it. He hated not being able to take that pain away; hated feeling helpless to ease his mate.

"By the end of the war, when I had severed every tie that Voldemort had to the world, I battled him for several hours. The damage the battle wrought on Hogwarts was severe and the castle was nearly crumbling around us. Finally, Voldemort stumbled over the body of a student that had been killed during the battle, her throat ripped out by one of the werewolves on his side and I was able to catch him with a killing curse. He was the twenty-eighth kill I made. After the war, a few stragglers of his flock were still around. They tried to kill me and avenge his death, but I killed them as well. When the public got wind of how many people I killed during the war, they got scared. They had spent years telling me to do my duty and had cried out for the Ministry to train me to do it, but when it was over, they were afraid of the killer they had created." Harry gave a hollow laugh and wiped away the tears on his cheeks, humming softly as Riddick pulled him into his mate's warm chest, tucking Harry's head under his chin. "They wanted to have me locked up in Azkaban, the notorious wizarding prison, but Dumbledore wouldn't let them. He and my closest friends and family stood up with me saying that if I was to be arrested for what I had done they should be too. They had been right beside me all through the war and had killed as well. So I was left alone. Some people still think I am nothing more than a killer and others think I am a savior. To my friends and family, I'm just Harry… so if you call yourself a killer and a bad man, you have to paint me with the same brush because I've killed just as much as you have."

Harry pulled back a bit from Riddick's embrace and crossed his arms, daring his mate to tell him he was wrong.

Riddick gave a soft laugh at the stubborn look on his mate's face, his lips jutted out in a pout. The Furyan couldn't find fault with his mate's reasoning. "'kay."

"Great… now let's get back to the shagging!" Harry beamed up at him.

"Wait… how did Sirius get out of the Veil thingy?"

"Oh, it was Remus who found a way. He wouldn't accept that Sirius was gone, so he spent months with Hermione researching a way to bring him back. Those two are the smartest people I know, so it was a given that if there was a way, they would find it." Harry had a bright happy look on his face as he spoke. "It took a long time, but they found a spell that, when used, could bring a person or group back to one specific place and time no matter where they were. So Remus got everything he needed and then went into the Veil after Sirius. It scared me, thinking that maybe both of them would be gone, but I saw how Remus was slowly dying the longer Sirius was in the Veil. We knew that, because of their mate bond, Sirius wasn't dead as Remus would have died with him, but there was no guarantee how long he would survive where he was. So we all hoped that Remus would find him and be able to bring him back. Remus was in the Veil for eight days before he used the spell and reappeared in the Hogwarts Infirmary with Sirius. It took a while for both of them to recover, but they did."

Riddick quirked an eyebrow at Harry; his mate lived the weirdest life.

"Okay, now can be get back to the shagging?" Harry pouted as he wiggled his bottom against Riddick's cock, the appendage had gone soft very quickly while Harry was talking about the war, but now, with a strategic wiggle, it was quickly back at full mast.

Riddick growled playfully and threw Harry onto his back on the bed and covered Harry's small body with his larger one, inciting a round of giggles under him from Harry. Leaning down into his mate's body, Riddick began a slow exploration of Harry's body. Running his tongue, lips and teeth across every inch of the smooth pale skin of his submissive, Riddick growled in pride at each moan, gasp and mewl from below him.

He followed the lines of Harry's lithe chest to the dip of his belly button, swirling his tongue and pushing it in and out of the shallow hole as if in promise of what was soon to come. Nipping at the jutting curves of his mate's hip, he laved the slightly reddened skin and admired yet another of his marks on Harry's body. He was amazed by the beauty of every dip and curve, every inch of skin he found, and with each passing second, he was convinced that no one in the universe was as beautiful as his mate.

Harry's breath caught as Riddick's warm breath ghosted over his cock. He could feel the heat of the wet mouth and whined pitifully as Riddick passed it by with an evil chuckle. The warm breath continued on down one leg and back up the other, giving playful nips and licks along the way. Riddick paid special attention to Harry's split tail, petting the soft downy fur and rubbing the base of the tail, chuckling when it caused a deep vibrating purr to start in Harry's chest. Then Harry gripped the sheets below him tightly and keened when Riddick spread Harry's legs wider and dipped his head down below his cock to sniff and nuzzle his balls.

"Smell good, Kitten. So good," Riddick groaned as he closed his eyes and breathed in the heady scent of his mate. He felt the beast inside him purr at the scent of his mate and the knowledge that Harry was ready to have their child.

At the whimper from Harry, Riddick finally gave his full attention to Harry's cock. It was a gorgeous cock. Long and thin, with a circumcised head that was red and flushed, a pearl of pre-come at its tip. Riddick leaned down and licked the drop from the head and grinned as Harry whined. Harry put his hands around the top of Riddick's head, caressing and cupping the smooth shaved skin. Licking the head of Harry's cock, Riddick gave soft teasing licks to the length, going from tip to base and back up again. Then he wrapped his lips around the head and slowly allowed the length to breach his mouth, using his tongue to swirl and caress as he went down.

"Oh, Merlin!" Harry cried as he gave a shallow thrust up into the heaven that surrounded his cock. He had never felt anything like it before. The wet warmth enveloped him and caused pleasure to course through his body, making him keen in bliss. "Please… please."

Riddick hummed in pleasure at the pleading voice of his mate, the vibrations only increasing the sensory overload in Harry's body. Finally, he took the entire length of Harry's cock in his mouth, hollowing out his cheeks and sucking for all he was worth. Soon he was bobbing his head up and down, deep throating the cock as he brought a hand up to Harry's balls. He squeezed and massaged the sacks as he used one finger to glide slowly up and down the sensitive skin of Harry's perineum. Feeling Harry's balls pull up tight to his body, he pulled back from the cock, leaving only the head in his mouth and increased his suction.

"Ughhh… RIDDICK!" Harry yelled as his orgasm overtook him.

At the rush of cum, Riddick swallowed, enjoying the first taste of his mate's seed. Copious amounts of cum flooded his mouth and was swallowed down his throat, as Riddick growled in triumph while his little mate convulsed in pleasure. As Harry's cock began to soften, Riddick laved the length, licking up every last drop of cum, humming as he worked.

Pulling back, he sat on his heels and looked at the debauched image in front of him. Harry's eyes were closed as he enjoyed the after glow. Finally, Harry opened his eyes and gave Riddick a large blissed-out grin.

"Wow."

Riddick laughed as he crawled up Harry's body and laid down on top of him. "So fuckin' beautiful."

Harry blushed and nuzzled Riddick's cheek. Harry pushed Riddick onto his back and straddled his lap, his arse pressed against the long, hard length of Riddick's cock. "My turn."

Grinning up at his mate, Riddick crossed his arms behind his head and rested it on them, giving Harry free rein.

Harry purred in appreciation of the sheer gorgeousness of the large body beneath him. It seemed like every inch of it was covered in corded muscle, from the broad shoulders down to the powerful legs. Harry let his hands glide lovingly over it all, mapping each inch and committing it to memory. Riddick said Harry was beautiful, but Riddick was even more so. The cock in front of him was nothing short of massive, at least compared to his and the few of his dorm mates' that he'd seen. It was about eight inches long with a wide fat head and above average width. Harry was a little hesitant about how it would fit inside him, but was more than willing to try.

Riddick's caramel skin glistened with sweat in the low light and Harry couldn't fight the irresistible urge to lean down and lick the sweet, salty flesh of his lower abdomen while meeting his mate's gaze from beneath his lashes with a coy smile.

Riddick groaned as Harry licked his skin, giving him an innocent look from beneath his eyelashes. The little kitten gave a soft laugh at Riddick's groan and Riddick wanted to flip him back over and show him who was top dog, but he didn't. Riddick allowed Harry to look his fill, knowing that Harry had let him do the same.

Soon Riddick was trembling in need, wanting to finally sink into Harry's welcoming body. Riddick gave a powerful thrust up again and growled. Harry smiled and then leaned over and grabbed his wand off the night stand. Pointing his wand at his fingers, Harry murmured "_Lubricus_" and his fingers were covered in lube. Laying the wand nearby, Harry caught Riddick's gaze as he leaned forward and brought his hand behind himself to the entrance of his body and groaned as he pushed one finger inside. He slid it in and out, slowly stretching the tight ring of muscle. Riddick gripped Harry's thighs as Harry bit his lower lip and whimpered, pushing another finger inside, preparing himself for Riddick.

When Riddick couldn't take it anymore, he sat up and pushed in a finger alongside Harry's, groaning at the slick heat of the hole around his finger. Soon he pushed another one in and their four fingers slid against each other, opening the hole and getting it ready for Riddick's cock.

Pulling out his fingers, Harry grabbed his wand again and pointed it at Riddick's cock. "_Lubricus_." Bringing his hand to it, he spread the lube all over the length and smiled when Riddick thrust up into the tight grip of his hand.

"Ready?" Riddick asked softly as he gripped Harry's hips.

Harry nodded and started to roll over onto his back beside Riddick, but was stopped.

"We'll do it with you riding me first; it's better for your first time. You control how much and how soon…" At Harry's Cheshire grin, Riddick added "but don't get to thinking you'll always get that. Gonna take control soon, Kitten."

Maneuvering around, Harry sat over Riddick's middle and brought the head of the cock to his entrance and slowly slid down on it. Grimacing slightly at the size of it as it breached the outer ring, Harry bit his bottom lip and waited a few seconds to adjust to it. Riddick lightly gripped one side of Harry's hips and brought his other hand to the small of Harry's back, rubbing the skin there and murmuring about how tight he was and how Riddick had wanted to be inside of him since he first smelt him.

Soon, Harry pushed down again, taking more and more of the length inside of himself, until he bottomed out. He waited another few seconds to get used to the size of Riddick's cock and then grinned down at his mate as he gave a hesitant wiggle. Pulling up slightly, he allowed the length to nearly leave him altogether and then pushed back down onto it again.

Riddick hissed up at Harry as a wave of pleasure spiked inside of his body, gripping his mate's hips and using every ounce of control not to thrust up into Harry's waiting body. Looking up at his mate, Riddick's breath halted at the vision of his small mate moving up and down on his cock, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the feel of the one and only cock he would ever have inside of him. He was like some fallen angel. Small and lithe, his pale skin glistening in the light, his dark, messy black hair in disarray, as he fucked himself on Riddick's cock. Harry was everything Riddick could ever want; everything he never thought he would be able to have.

Opening his eyes, Harry leaned down and splayed his hands on Riddick's chest to ground himself. He caught Riddick's eyes, staring into the silver orbs as he worked, levering up and down and keening in pleasure as Riddick's cock brushed up against his prostate, sending a zing of pleasure straight to his cock.

"Kitten, you look so beautiful. Perfect," Riddick growled as his tightened his hold on Harry's hips and began thrusting up into his mate's body.

"Riddick…" Harry whined as he slammed back down onto Riddick's cock and used his inner muscles to clamp down onto him. "Yesss…"

"That's it baby, slam down on my cock. I want you to cum on it; get all slick for me and then, when you're done, I'm gonna flip you over and fuck you so hard. Pound you into the mattress… leave a piece of me in there forever."

Harry keened in pleasure slamming downward as Riddick gripped Harry's cock, sliding his tight fist up and down it, bringing Harry closer and closer to heaven. Harry felt his balls draw up tight for the second orgasm of the night and then he felt his body explode in pleasure. Every inch of his skin was on fire and tingling as he came, spilling up and over Riddick's hand and onto his chest.

Riddick felt Harry's hole clench unbelievably tight around his cock as he came. The pleasure was overwhelming, but he held back, wanting to follow through with his promise. As Harry gave a few more thrusts down onto his cock, Riddick flipped Harry over onto his back and waited for Harry to open his eyes. When he saw those stunning emerald cat eyes, he pulled nearly all the way out and then slammed back in, growling when Harry gave a soft whimper at the extra stimulation.

"Knew you would look like a fallen angel when you came around my cock. So pretty. Gonna have to fuck you several times a day just to see that look on your face." Riddick nuzzled Harry's neck as he licked Harry's claiming bite, smelling the scent of his saliva that was permanently mixed into the mark. It was a show of possession, making sure that anyone who saw the bite and smelt Riddick's scent knew who Harry belonged to.

Pounding into Harry's body, Riddick threaded his fingers with Harry's as he laid them up above his mate's head on the pillow, gripping and flexing them every time he thrust back into his mate's body. He felt Harry's cock perking up again, the constant bombardment of Riddick's cock on his prostate making sure that when Riddick finally came, Harry would as well.

"Riddick…" Harry mewled as he gripped Riddick's hands, kissing and biting the lobe of Riddick's ear, his body already on another climb into orgasm.

"Kitten… love how your body fits perfect with mine… made for only me." Riddick breathed into Harry's neck.

"Yours."

"Mine!" Riddick growled as he bit into Harry's neck, reopening the claiming bite once again.

Harry's body bucked up in orgasm at the combination of pain and pleasure as Riddick bit him, his body taking him over the edge once again. He heard Riddick roar as his insides were flooded with Riddick's cum, coating the walls and warming him like nothing ever had. He felt whole, as if he'd been waiting an entire lifetime for this… and really he had. Though he'd only been dreaming about Riddick for a year and a half, he had been waiting since the moment of his birth to mate with this man. To be two separate sides of one complete soul, neither of them complete without the other. It was cheesy and poetic, but a simple truth for both of them.

"Love you, Riddick." Harry whispered as he nuzzled his mate's cheek.

"Love you too, Kitten." Riddick breathed as he licked the reopened bite, infusing more of his scent into the mark, making sure that nobody ever doubted that Harry belonged to Riddick and Riddick belonged to Harry.

0000000000000

From a darkened corner of the bedroom, as the newly mated couple slept, a wispy figure of a woman appeared, as if she were formed by the very air around her. Her long, flowing white hair carried in the non-existent breeze, drifting behind her as she cautiously moved a little closer to observe the odd pairing of a Furyan and a Nekomata. The oddity wasn't in the difference in species really — they were similar, if separated by a few millennia of evolution — it was the fact that roughly seven hundred years had separated them until very recently. It wasn't very often that her people encountered an event that they hadn't predicted, but the mating of the two before her had been one of a handful of events over the course of untold millennia.

Her species, long ago, had slowly drifted away from the less predictable aspects of life such as mating. Iinstead, they had taken refuge in the explainable and the calculable, choosing to observe rather than participate. It was only fortunate that her people lived such long lives. She herself had witnessed the birth and death of untold civilizations over several millennia and would continue to do so for many more.

However, in all those years, she had never been so fortunate as to bear witness when such an unpredictable life form came into being. It was often the smallest event or person that had the power to shift the outcome of life on an immeasurable scale and such was the case with the tiny life just beginning to form within the young Nekomata's womb.

At the news of the unpredictable pairing, those in the highest positions in the Elemental society had begun to recalculate the outcome of the past, present and future. The pairing would affect all three to varying degrees, but the future held the most sway because, depending on the outcome, the future might take many turns that had, until now, never been a possibility. The calculations had been done many times over, checked and rechecked and every time the results were the same. She had been sent by her people to verify the outcome and tally the final calculations and now, as she stood over the newly mated pair, she knew that her people had been correct.

The curious meeting of the Nekomata and the Furyan could affect the future in various ways, but the spark of life just beginning to form within the Nekomata was the deciding factor. That life, which until recently Fate had never given a future, had started a chain of events that would only end with a death. The identity of the person whose death was to take place was undecided — oh the calculations gave a probable outcome, but Fate was a fickle thing.

The woman backed away quietly from the bed with a sad expression on her aged face. The calculations now complete, laid a path for the mated pair to follow. Some time would need to pass before she would be needed to play her part in the events to come. With a final look, she disappeared into the wind, a trail of swirling air behind her.

One death held the promise of long life and prosperity for the universe's population, the other would lead to the eventual end of all human life even unto the farthest reaches of the universe… which death would Fate choose?… Only Fate herself knew.

The End.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Okay boys and girls, that brings us to the end of the story, but not the end of the series. I am in the middle of writing the sequel,** Fade Into Darkness**, and hope to begin posting sometime after the new year. I currently have about four and a half chapters written, but want to get at least five fully written and edited chapters before i start posting. So look for the first chapter to be posted sometime in the beginning of 2011. I want to thank _damnednforsaken_ and _phoenixfeather_ for their wondeful beta skills and i want to thank you all for reading this and for the lovely comments. I hope you all have a great holidays and a happy new year!


	6. Sequel Posted!

Update 1/16/11:

I have posted the first chapter for Animalis' sequel, **Fade Into Darkness**. The story can be found on my author profile page. Enjoy!

Iamaslashaddict


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